Crawf wrote:Is there going to be a customs processing fee? Flat fee, percentage based on value?

The point of the new system is that the foreign business just pays the GST to ATO more or less by honesty.

It will work for eBay and Amazon (though Amazon just dealt with it by banning the international site) since they have an Australian presence so can be pressured.

AliExpress said they will comply, though since their parcels don't even get shipped by AliExpress directly and they use in-house AliPay payment gateway which can lie about transaction details I don't see how that could even be monitored, they will probably just pocket most of the extra 10% and be tricky.

Time will tell if foreign retailers are complying or just pocketing the GST or ignoring the rule completely.

Jmuzz wrote:That is worst case for the consumer. Pay extra but no tax paid back to support our welfare systems etc.

Depends if it's even in the price to begin with.The way these big retailers manage their discounts is very complex, they often sell at a loss as part of their highly competitive war with other retailers.So it may be the case that they have the cheapest price because that 10% GST is not even a real part of the price.

I don’t see many truely selling at a loss, but one way to sell low is to buy left-over stock for cheap of buy bulk and haggle for a low price. There was also a strategy of purchasing for extremely low prices from distributers and then shifting stock or OEM strategies which explains why some parts are delivered without original (display type) packaging.

Really only when they are ready to clear old stock may the retail price dip and very rarely are there genuine sales at a loss. (Except of course with discounts which are now often targeted to new customers.... though not to forget, a discount Is typically on the RRP and not their actual regular sales price.

I'm not sure if it has been posted before. I've just ordered a couple of bike parts from Ebay China based sites. GST is added to the sale price when paying. Anyone know if Ebay/Paypal is collecting the GST directly and forwarding to Aus Gov?

Usernoname wrote:I'm not sure if it has been posted before. I've just ordered a couple of bike parts from Ebay China based sites. GST is added to the sale price when paying. Anyone know if Ebay/Paypal is collecting the GST directly and forwarding to Aus Gov?

Unless I am mistaken, I think fleabay collects the GST ... whether they do it directly from the transaction or throw it in on top of their sellers fee to be payable in 30 days or so, I don't know.

Glad I looked here. I'm looking at an ABUS U-lock which a local and several other Aussie) retailer has for $235. Wiggle has it at $122. Its not even a close comparison so I'll be interested to know what happens to the items people have ordered in the last week or two.

I'm not so fussed about an extra 10% but if couriers get away with adding in admin fees etc (even where there is no legal requirement)...additional costs can start to mount up.

Ross wrote:I just ordered a quantity of Shimano polymer gear cables from Ribble, no GST charged. Even with $11 freight Ribble were MUCH cheaper than Bikebug - $86 vs $136

Also bought some brake pads for my MTB from o/s eBay seller and was charged GST but still way cheaper than anyone else inc the usual suspects such as Bikebug, Pushys and even Wiggle /CRC

I actually ordered the wrong cables, got PTFE mixed up with Polymer. Ik know Duck has mentioned a couple of times that he prefers PTFE (Teflon) over Polymer but I was buying them for someone who I owed a favour/money to and that's what he wants (Polymer) so who am I to argue. So I am going to have to re-order the correct cables and it doesn't appear Ribble sell them, BikeBug and Merlin are the only other ones to have them at a reasonable price (most shops want to sell the inner and outer as a unit, I just want inner). Merlin is still ~$20 cheaper than Bike Bug even after adding GST.

Ross wrote:I just ordered a quantity of Shimano polymer gear cables from Ribble, no GST charged. Even with $11 freight Ribble were MUCH cheaper than Bikebug - $86 vs $136

Also bought some brake pads for my MTB from o/s eBay seller and was charged GST but still way cheaper than anyone else inc the usual suspects such as Bikebug, Pushys and even Wiggle /CRC

I actually ordered the wrong cables, got PTFE mixed up with Polymer. Ik know Duck has mentioned a couple of times that he prefers PTFE (Teflon) over Polymer but I was buying them for someone who I owed a favour/money to and that's what he wants (Polymer) so who am I to argue. So I am going to have to re-order the correct cables and it doesn't appear Ribble sell them, BikeBug and Merlin are the only other ones to have them at a reasonable price (most shops want to sell the inner and outer as a unit, I just want inner). Merlin is still ~$20 cheaper than Bike Bug even after adding GST.

My rear derailleur cable's life with the polymer coating was half that with the PTFE coating. Perhaps try to convince him you purchased the better cables.

DavidS wrote:My main worry is that some smaller shops won't ship here.

Why should that be an issue? Smaller businesses are not required to collect the GST.

You are correct that it shouldn't be an issue, but I know some of the sellers on Discogs (a place for buying records) are saying they just can't be bothered with dealing with our new law. This is one of those unintended impacts the government really doesn't seem to care about as long as they are protecting those who have been lobbying them.

My now correct polymer cable order arrived today from Merlin Cycles. Had to pay GST when I ordered, but free freight and still (a bit, but not a lot) cheaper than BikeBug. No further customs or any other charges.

Some bib shorts rrived in my letterbox today, ordered via the internet from a company in Beijing, didn't have to pay GST (or freight).

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